in-line 6 Cylinder Engines, 'straight-six'

Discussion in 'Propulsion' started by brian eiland, Jun 26, 2012.

  1. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    ...from another forum....

    Some interesting observations about those good old Ford inline 6's

    The Ford Inline 300 straight six is a Bullit proof motor. As other people have said, it's great for torque & pulling, but not that great at highway speeds over 75mph. You could abuse that motor and it would never die as long as it had oil in it, and was the most reliable motor Ford made. That explains why Ford discontinued the motor in 96 because they wouldn't break down, so they couldn't sell repair parts.

    ...and this one :D
    It is stronger torque wise which translates to more pulling power.
    Great engine.
    I had one in an old bread van. One time I was pulling my 23 ft. trailer over the mountains out of Bakersfield, Ca. when a Chev. pickup pulling about the same trailer passed me on the flats. He was very proud of his new truck as it was one of the first diesel Chev. pickups made & he had painted on the front fender "V8 Diesel, 4 speed, Fuel Injection". He would pass going downhill & on the flats as I only had top speed of maybe 70 mph but I would pass on the next hill! It got to be quite a game for me laughing at him as my old junker passed him on every hill while he would run off & leave me as he had a higher top speed (I don't think you should be pulling a trailer 70-90 MPH). Of course it didn't help that I was laughing at him every time I passed!

    I know the feeling, I had a friend of mine that had a ford with the 460, I told him I could pull a trailer full of steel up a hill faster than he ever could from a standing start for $100. He went first I did second run, his time was 8.5 seconds, Mine was 6 seconds flat. He was pissed,lost $100


    Is the Ford F150 inline-6 stronger than the V-8
     
  2. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    These in-line 6 car engines have gotten a bad rap related to fuel usage,...and yes some of them were fuel hogs. BUT look at the age they were developed. There weren't even Interstate Hwys at that point,..but rather mostly two lane roads with top speeds of 55MPH. Even automatic transmissions were new things then, so these trucks used good 3-speed std shifts.

    Modernize these engines, and add some extra gearing to help then compete in this modern world, and you may have a 'powerhouse' errected from an older age.


    1979 F250 WITH INLINE 6 CYLINDER - Page 2 - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

    ...couple of excerpts....

    The nice thing about the 300 is that you can about double the hp and retain nearly the same mpg. If you want to see some nice gains, you have to start with the head. It is the bottle neck of the engine. It needs to breathe easier, to flow more. That is done with a simple $350 porting job, cleaning up the bowls and runners, polishing the c.chambers. With that add a 30* back cut on the intake valves to a 3 angle v.job, and you are taking a major step to waking up your engine.

    Add to that a nice Offenhauser intake, and a good 4v carb, and the efi exhaust with dual 2" or 2.25" pipe, or single with 2.5" pipe, and you will have quite an engine.

    I have a series of articles about how to wake up the 300 in true blue trucks magazine, and write a column for them called backyard mechanic.


    ........and
    You need to get your answers over at the I6 forum. I have an F350 that I swapped from a 390 to a 300. My goal was to retain the hp, but yet achieve 50% better mpg.

    I now get 17 mpg on the freeway with 3.31 gears and a C6. Before I got 10, rain, shine, empty, loaded. I am now packing the nuts away so I can swap it over to a ZF five speed manual. Not only will you get better mileage with a manual, but you'll regain about 30 hp.

    Changing over to the 300 worked out great for me.
     
  3. powerabout
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    powerabout Senior Member

    I remember we had a 300 six in our travellift at the marina, yes bullet proof.

    A 390 isnt that like 40years old?
     
  4. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    Those Ford and Chevy sixes I was talking about originated back before tthe super hwys (Interstate Hwy Systems) were built. In the USA there were 2 lane roads principly with top speeds of 55mph. The automatic transmission was just brand new, and certainly not used in pick-up trucks. We had 3-speed manual transissions, and no options for more gears.

    If you put those same combinations on the road today surely you will get really lousey fuel economy. But tweak those engines up, and add some taller gearing etc, and they just might surprise you,....perhaps you might have to make the hood lines a little longer (in cars) :rolleyes:,...but for boats, no problem if its going to last me 2-3 times longer
     
  5. powerabout
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    powerabout Senior Member

    It would be cool to put the current EFI systems on the old high comp engines, disregarding emmissions I think they would go real well with the high cylinder pressures they had with the camshafts at the time
     
  6. WestVanHan
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    WestVanHan Not a Senior Member

    300 six vs the first Chev diesels....5.7 which had 120 hp in ...1978??? Who cares?

    A Ford 300/6 (160 hp and about 250 lb ft) out pulling a 460 Ford P'up (my dad had one when I was a kid and I remember the specs) 250 hp and over 400 torque...a fantasy.
    So why didn't they ditch the 460 and just put 300/6 into every truck? It'd have been cheaper for Ford.

    Anyways back to boats plz.

    The only other engine tech advance other than piezo/common rail injection/ turbos is graphite blocks.
    Hyundai is the only one I know of.
    But all this saving weight-a graphite block to maybe save a hundred or so kilos in a 20 ton boat is a waste....based on my own practical experiences.

    I'm at 20 tons dry,have loaded up on a couple tons+ of fuel and stuff..and my boat still jumps up on plane at about 14 knots,still does the same top speed..and honestly I never notice any difference in mpg. .
    Maybe if I measured down to the ml..a difference may be noted but not worth looking at.

    Until someone invents a molecular shield so the boat avoids most contact with the water yet displaces it and uses little power...nothing will change.
     
  7. DCockey
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    DCockey Senior Member

    I assume by "graphite" block you mean an engine block made of "compacted graphite iron" such as Hyundai and other use, rather the graphite form of carbon. Compacted graphite iron is a form of cast iron.

    http://www.durhamfoundry.com/compacted-graphite-cast-iron.html
    http://www.foundrymag.com/feature/feature/50003/2007_shapes_up_as_a_big_year_for_cgi
     
  8. powerabout
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    powerabout Senior Member

    lots of stuff built with that technology now including conrods (powder forged)
    first used in 928 Porche I believe
    These technologys also make the engine quieter and lighter
     
  9. brian eiland
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    Steyr....light weight diesels

    If I were looking for light-weight diesels, perhaps for a multihull vessel then these engines might be at the top of my list....Steyr
    http://www.vogt-kappeln.de/motoren/images_steyr/steyr.pdf

    ...and to say that straight sixes are only bulky, heavier, by nature, then look at this aircraft consideration of an inline 6:

    Diamond Aircraft has announced that it is developing a new engine in conjunction with Streyr, a longtime maker of diesel engines for the marine market. While the company released few details on the engine, it is known that it will be a 280 hp in-line six-cylinder diesel — Diamond apparently prefers the terms "jet fuel piston aviation engine." The engine will feature an integrated case and cylinder heads. Its in-line configuration makes it very thin, while still not being much taller than a conventional horizontally opposed six-cylinder aircraft engine. The engine is planned to be the production powerplant for the Diamond DA50 five-place single and Diamond's under-development Future Small Aircraft twin. The prospects are intriguing for several reasons.

    http://www.steyr-motors.com/uploads/media/AustroEngine_STEYR_MOTORS_press_releaseEN__20110303.pdf
     

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  10. powerabout
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    powerabout Senior Member

    I met a guy the other day building retro style gentlemans runabouts 25' and up and he uses the Steyr(s) as there is nothing on the market that can compete power to weight and more importantly with the same level of emissions not to mention noise.
     
  11. whitepointer23

    whitepointer23 Previous Member

    a friend bought a steyr 6 , 5 yrs ago and put it in a 32 ft atkins design he built. lovely engine. i like the one piece block and head, no head gasket to blow.
     
  12. mydauphin
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    mydauphin Senior Member

    Most people buy or build a boat with all the weight savings technologys and engines, that cost a lot of money. Then they fill it up with junk thar weights down the boat altering its performance and balance. This especially true in boats in 39-40 foot range.
     
  13. tunnels

    tunnels Previous Member

    You are a man after my own heart I been say this for years . The more junk that gets invented every year the more they cant do without it just about every boat in the 40 foot plus range is better than the house the people own . here in china its a status symble the bigger the better and more flashy the better !! they bring every person that is standing on the dock ,they all sit in the aft cockpit because they scared to go below . the boat ploughs along with it nose pointed sky wards and has the boarding platform under water .The console panel looks like a 747 and dials switchs and gauges in double up , because its got to have twins to be able to push the tons of water because the boat is so far out of trim and twenty people all sitting in the back . its just to much for me !!:D
     
  14. Milehog
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    Milehog Clever Quip

    Wow, lot's of curious tales about the Ford 300 six. I've driven a few inline six engines. The gas powered ones ranged from the Ford 170 to the 1,500 pound International Harvester BR-549 with 285 hp and 505 ft lbs torque. The Ford 300? Pack a lunch. The best American inline six IMO? The late Jeep 4.0L.
    I dunno if anyone has marinized the Jeep 4.0L but if practical it would be my first choice if I needed an inline gas six in a boat.
     
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  15. WestVanHan
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    WestVanHan Not a Senior Member

    Agree 100%.
    Was in the auto biz-saw many,many Jeeps falling apart with hundreds of thousands of km/miles,rusted out,yet the engines were fine..just the usual piston slap and lifter racket when cold.

    I'd throw one in a boat.
     
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